Inspiration

Inspiration (from Latin inspirare 'inspire, inflame, blow into'), stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc., to special or unusual activity or creativity. The ancients suggested that creative ideas are breathed into a human agent by some divine or mystical force (daemon or genius). As Plato explained, "the poets are nothing but interpreter of gods, each one possessed by the divinity to whom he is in bondage." Inspiration was associated with madness, both being deviation from the conventional norm, and the poets were often called divine madmen. Creativity, genius and madness have been associated in Western culture since Aristotle's time but this association is currently disputed (Rothenberg, 1990).